


The Lord of the Rings

by Nicky_Gabriel



Series: My Brother, My King [1]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3407249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicky_Gabriel/pseuds/Nicky_Gabriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Peter and Edmund decided differently at the end of the Last Battle?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lord of the Rings

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [Władca pierścieni](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3505280) by [Nicky_Gabriel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nicky_Gabriel/pseuds/Nicky_Gabriel)



> Edited by Dawnwind. Thank you!  
> All mistakes left are mine.

It’s far past midnight, it’s cold and the garden is dark. No moon to betray their presence, no neighbors to witness their crime. Yet, Edmund feels as if something... somebody is watching them.

Everything in him screams they shouldn’t be there, that they should leave, that they shouldn’t even have come, but he can’t come up with an alternative. Peter is Edmund’s High King wherever they go. So here he is, by his brother’s side, preparing to dig out the rings. They’d already broken in and gone against the Law that the Great Lion Himself set up not only for Narnia, but for the Earth as well.

Peter opened the gate and they slid into the garden soundlessly. He might want to be a doctor one day and follow in their father’s footsteps, but he and Edmund both remembered Oreius’ lessons in the art of war (or picking up locks) and obstacles such as gates meant nothing to them. They don’t have much time left anyway.

Peter handed him a shovel he found in the nearby shed, and Edmund can see in his eyes what he’s been seeing for years. He sees how terribly Peter misses Narnia, how much it hurts him to have no hope of ever going back. How much he wants to be part of _anything_ that reminds him of their old home. Edmund can’t ignore the fact that they’re making the greatest mistake of their life. In Edmund’s case, maybe the second greatest – he’s seen the Stone Table after all.

The tree is exactly where he remembers. Seeing it, he’s hit with such overwhelming sense of impending disaster that he needs to lean on the shovel, or he would fall apart here and now.

Peter moves forward but Edmund grasps his arm.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he says.

“What?” Peter looks at him, surprised. “We can’t leave without the rings. Eustace and Jill won’t be able to get to Narnia without them. They weren’t banned, and that’s the only way to return for them.”

They way he says ‘banned’, the way his voice quivers. It’s all there again, but Edmund is nauseated at the prospect of digging for the rings. The price is too high.

“No,” he says firmly.

“I can do it alone,” Peter offers.

Of course, he would offer, even though he can’t understand half of the things Edmund can ‘feel’. And oh, Edmund _can_ feel _._

“No, Peter. It’s not the only way.” Edmund holds onto his brother’s arm for dear life.

“We’ve already tried to come up with some other way and none of us succeeded. Any brilliant last moment ideas?” Peter asks. He’s not being sarcastic. He’s just... desperate.

He is also right. The last two days are a blur. As if Edmund wasn’t part of the scheming and plotting. As if he was an observer from the side, trying to figure out what it all is actually about.

He bits his lip and looks at the dimly lit house again. They’ve already had this discussion.

“Aslan can send Eustace and Jill back,” he says.

“He’s not exactly a tame Lion.” Peter reminds him. “Do you know how to persuade Him to do it?”

Edmund frowns. The feeling of being observed returned with vehemence. He hasn’t been able to get rid of it ever since they got on the train that brought them here.

“It won’t be necessary,” he says, lowering his voice. Just in case. “Every time Narnia needed any of us, He sent us there. And this... phantom we’d seen wasn’t Him. On the other hand, every time someone used the rings, terrible things happened.”

“Without the rings, Narnia wouldn’t even exist,” Peter says as if trying to find a reason to go on.

“You don’t really believe it!” Edmund will never accept it! “Do you?” He loves Narnia too much to simply believe it was an accident. No matter what history teaches them. “Peter, just think before we do something we will regret. Please!”

“We can’t leave without these rings.” Peter’s blue eyes darken.

Remembering the tragedy when they tried to help Caspian. Peter has nightmares even now. Edmund’s heart breaks for him, but the prize would be unacceptable.

“We can’t leave _with_ them. If we take them, it will mean...” He sighs, frustrated. It’s like when he learned about the White Witch’s claim over every traitor in Narnia. He couldn’t understand how breaking that law would destroy an entire realm. It was... too much. That’s how he felt now. Like everything was falling apart.

“Aslan ordered to bury them. Peter, I can’t...” No words could explain how much this command meant to him. Here, in England so little was left of what Edmund remembers and loves of Narnia – his family, the old mansion, the wardrobe, their memories. Of Aslan here is only this one simple order. If that’s the only thing Edmund can ever hope for, so be it. He won’t break it, even if the fate of Narnia depended on using the rings.

He felt Peter’s hand on his shoulder. “Ed, they were used to drag Jadis to Narnia, but you can’t let her hold you back.”

“You think that’s why I don’t want to help Eustace and Jill?” It’s as if Peter hit him. “Back there I supported your every decision. If He hadn’t made clear what He wanted, _you_ decided. You were, and are, my High King. Don’t make me choose now!”

Little does he know that soon he will have to choose. In a different world, in a different time, but he will have to. Soon.

“If Narnia needs help.” Edmund tries once more. “Aslan won’t have to be persuaded.”

Peter looks at him for what feels like eternity. “How do you know what He wants?” he whispers.

And that’s it. Peter’s finally ready to _listen._

There is only one answer. “I don’t know what He wants, but I know what He doesn’t want.”

A moment passes, then another and then... Peter smiles slightly. “Good, but _you’re_ going to explain our friends why they have to figure out another way to get there.” The haunted look in Peter’s eyes remains, but there is also something else. Hope?

Edmund sighs with relief and Peter covers his hand with his palm. “Ed...”

“I know.” His heart breaks into pieces and suddenly it’s hard to keep breathing. He wants to use the rings as much as Peter. To save the world again. To breathe the Narnia air again. To just go Home. This is why he can’t get anywhere near those cursed things. He doesn’t trust himself that much.

“Thanks, brother.” Peter lets go and leans so his forehead briefly touches Edmund’s temple. “Don’t worry,” he whispers. “There’s a reason there were four sovereigns ruling one Kingdom. We’ll figure it out.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to.” Edmund smiles and looks up at where the rings are hidden.

And gasps. The Great Lion is standing _exactly_ where they were not supposed to dig.

Alarmed, Peter turns around and freezes.

Edmund wouldn’t have uttered a word if his life depended on it. He has never forgotten how the Magic felt. It’s imprinted on every cell of his body. Narnia runs through his veins even here, or is it – especially here, where that is all he has left? Now, everything that he lost is standing in front of him.

Edmund looks away. He doesn’t want to see disappointment on Aslan’s face. They haven’t exactly gone against His law, but they were close enough. He’s there to stop them, right?

“Aslan?” Peter is the first to speak.

It’s as if time stood still. Edmund can hear soft steps and the Magic envelops him like a blanket. He couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. He doesn’t want to.

“You did well, Dear Ones.”

Edmund swallows hard. He can’t... He’s not... He looks up. Meeting Aslan is always as if meeting Him for the first time, and suddenly it’s like he’s ten years old again. There is just one thing left to do. He takes a step toward the Great Lion and buries his face deeply into His mane.

“I missed you,” Edmund whispers.

He can sense Peter on the other side of the Lion, his brother brushing his fingers against Edmund’s hand, but nothing else matters right now. There is no cold anymore, no darkness.

”I'm glad you stuck through it until the end,” Peter whispers from next to him.

After an eternity that is too short, Edmund steps back, but doesn’t let go.

“I – I had no choice,” he answers. The alternative was unthinkable.

“You always have a choice, but you choose wisely.” Aslan smiles at them. “Your friends have been called to Narnia and it’s up to Me how they get there. For you, I have another adventure prepared if you are willing.”

Another adventure? But how? They can’t go back to Narnia, right? They were forbidden to return. Aslan never would do anything against the Law. He hasn't broken the Law. Ever.

“I am willing,” Peter says immediately.

Edmund isn’t surprised. It kills Peter to be restrained to England. To stick to the memories so few of them share. To have nothing else _but_ memories.

Edmund hesitates. He wants to come back, but what if it’s another test? Hasn’t he been tested enough?

Aslan smiles at him. “There are other worlds than these, Edmund.”

Yes, he’s learned about them the hard way. In Narnia, they were Kings and Queens. In England, they were just the Pevensies. What would they be in the other worlds? Who would they be?

Was he willing?

He meets Peter’s eyes and sees the truth. They would be a tool in the hands of much greater power than they could even start to comprehend. As always. Edmund smiles. He won’t be alone – wherever they are sent, he will have two best friends by his side.

As before, when they were returning to Narnia for the first time, it happens in a blink of an eye. Everything is falling apart fast. Peter grasps Edmund’s arm, and he leans against him, seeking more support than his legs are giving him. Peter is always the one he can count on.

Suddenly, they are in some dark and silent forest. No sounds, no movement, no people.

It isn’t Narnia. And it isn’t Earth. The magic is different, the air is different.

Only the Lion in front of them is the same.

Edmund looks around. This place is to be their new home. This world needs their help – they wouldn’t have been called here if that wasn’t so. Then he feels it. There’s a great evil in this world, almost as strong as the White Witch’s.

Edmund steps away from Peter’s grasp, because he doesn’t want his brother to notice the fear that suddenly threatens to overwhelm him, but Peter doesn’t let him. Leave it to Peter, they are in this mess – whatever it is – together.

It starts to rain and Edmund turns toward Aslan, who waits patiently. “Will You tell us, what we’re supposed to do here?” he asks hesitantly. They usually don’t get any straight answers anyway but there’s no harm in asking.

“I want you to be who you are,” is His answer. “Brothers and kings.”

“That’s... easy,” Edmund says, and smiles.

“Has it ever been easy before?” Aslan smiles back.

Edmund looks at Peter and his brother grins, brightly. They would walk through fire for each other.

“No,” they answer simultaneously.

It’s raining heavily now and the forest is so dark that just Peter’s hair shines in the darkness.

“Do they know You in this world?” Peter asks.

“Is that important?” Aslan tilts His head.

Edmund has never thought about that before. Is it important? Or is it enough that they know Him from the other worlds?

“You will have to find out for yourselves,” Aslan says.

Edmund nods and hugs Him for the last time. It’s the end. The waiting’s over. Since Lucy and he left Narnia, he tries to live with what England can offer, but it’s never enough. How could it be when he’s experienced so much more? He’s lost his home over and over again, and now he is being given another chance.

He’ll have to let go finally. They’ll be left here alone do deal with who knows what, but as long as he can, he wants to savor every second he’s given. After an eternity that is too short, Edmund steps back.

“You’ve found Me in your own world,” Aslan says. “You will find Me here, too. I like watching you search for Me.”

Edmund knows he won’t have to look far. Wherever they go, He will walk right next to them. Another lesson learned the hard way.

**The End**


End file.
